International Journal of Epidemiology 2003;32:862-876
© International Epidemiological Association 2003
Fetal Origins Of Adult Health |
Relationship between birthweight and blood lipid concentrations in later life: evidence from the existing literature
1 Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Imperial College London, Faculty of Medicine, Norfolk Place, London W2 1PG, UK. E-mail: l.lauren{at}imperial.ac.uk
2 Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Imperial College London, UK.
3 MRC Clinical Science Centre, Imperial College London, UK.
4 Unit of Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology, University of Bristol, UK.
5 Department of Public Health Science and General Practice, University of Oulu, Finland.
6 MRC National Survey of Health Division, Department of Epidemiology, University College London, UK.
7 Danish Epidemiology Science Centre, Copenhagen, Denmark.
8 1st Department of Paediatrics Medical School, Athens University Children’s Hospital, Athens, Greece.
9 Cancer Research Program, Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Darlinghurst, Australia.
Background It has been suggested that there is a link between fetal growth and chronic diseases later in life. Several studies have shown a negative association between birthweight and cardiovascular diseases, as well as cardiovascular disease risk factors, such as blood pressure and type 2 diabetes. Far fewer studies have focused on the association between size at birth and blood lipid concentrations. We have conducted a qualitative assessment of the direction and consistency of the relationship between size at birth and blood lipid concentrations to see whether the suggested relationship between intrauterine growth and cardiovascular diseases is mediated by lipid metabolism.
Methods A literature search covering the period January 1966 to January 2003 was performed using Medline, Embase, and Web of Science. All papers written in English and reporting the relationship between size at birth and lipid levels in humans were assessed. Bibliographies were searched for further publications.
Results From an initial screen of 1198 references, 39 papers were included involving 28 578 individuals. There was no consistent relationship between size at birth and blood lipid levels; the one exception being triglyceride concentration, which showed statistically significant negative or U-shaped, but not positive, relationships with birthweight.
Conclusion This review does not strongly support a link between birthweight and blood lipid levels in later life. However, the research in this area is limited and in order to make any definitive conclusions, longitudinal studies with sufficient power, data, and prospective follow-up are needed.
Keywords Birthweight, birth length, fetal growth, total cholesterol, HDL, LDL, triglyceride, lipid, hyperlipidaemia, cardiovascular diseases
Accepted 2 April 2003
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